Ever since THE ATLANTIS PROPHECY spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, I’ve often been asked what first inspired me to write about the secret star alignments and ancient tunnels beneath Washington, D.C.
The simple and opaque answer is that I was first introduced to the tunnels and star alignments just minutes after I finished broadcasting a report from the president’s State of the Union address in front of the U.S. Capitol for NBC television affiliates. I was 21 and it was—yikes!—1987 and Ronald Reagan was still president. Now there is ancient history.
I knew then that I’d have to write about the subject in a novel someday. I also knew I would bypass the argument of whether the tunnels and star alignments are real—they are in the novel, of course—because the people and agencies who believe so are themselves real enough to affect the course of the republic.
I recently went back to one, easily accessible if “secret” tunnel and found that it’s still there. You do, however, have the clear to get past several security checkpoints that didn’t exist back in the day.
And yesterday I dug up that old TV report of that ancient State of the Union address from a box in my archives. We’ve included it with this post.
Today a vast and modern underground complex specifically built for members of Congress in time of attack exists directly beneath the ground I was standing on when I shot the report. I’ve got an exclusive picture snapped during the construction that I’ve posted before and will post again in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, enjoy the “time tunnel” to the height of the Cold War.
Later, around Presidents Day, we’ll look at what George Washington was really thinking when he hired Pierre L’Enfant, a fellow 33rd Degree Freemason, to design the federal city, originally called Washingtonople.
